Today’s residents of Leicester’s busy Upperton Road will probably look longingly at this photograph, taken on a February morning, 57 years ago, in 1961.

Despite the obvious winter’s chill, it is a remarkably tranquil scene.

Today, there is an almost constant steam of traffic along this attractive thoroughfare, with its gentle slope from Narborough Road to Upperton Rise.

One extremely gratifying aspect of the picture is that, other than an increase in traffic, nothing has changed. All the houses are still there, as are the trees.

The white stuccoed houses on the left leading into Sykefield Avenue and those opposite, whose windows are facing the camera, are fine examples of Edwardian domestic architecture, designed by leading local architects. They are described by Richard Gill in his Book of Leicester, thus: “Sykefield Avenue deserves notice. On the corner with Upperton Road, there is a 1910 block by Stockdale Harrison, with roughcast rendering and good chimneys.

“It has a healthy air about it; one could imagine its residents going on long hikes into the Charnwood Forest or going by bike to Foxton Locks or Rutland villages.

“On the opposite side is a red brick block of 1906 by Everard and Pick which is distinctly rural, even arts and crafts in origin.

“Its cottagey-looks are created by the overhanging eaves, big roof and the easy rhythm of the frontage.”